Wildlife Officers Nab Bird Poacher

IPOH: Greedy for some extra income, a rubber tapper took to trapping birds belonging to a protected species at a forest in Grik.

The 45-year-old poacher, who went to get more baskets to keep the birds, found himself ambushed and arrested by officers from the Perak Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan).

The officers, acting on a tip-off, arrested the suspect when he went a friend’s house at Taman Rimba Gamelan in Bercham to get the baskets at 8pm on Thursday, said Perhilitan state director Shabrina Shariff yesterday.

She said they also seized 127 Common Shama or Murai Batu, which were to be sold to a middleman in Johor Baru for RM15 each. The birds would have fetched a few hundred ringgit in the market, she added

If charged under Section 68 of the Wildlife Act, the man is liable to a maximum fine of RM3,000 or three years’ jail or both.

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